Postpartum can be beautiful but it can also be exhausting, overwhelming, and painful. My first birth was fairly easy, but I still felt like I had been in a car accident by the next day! These DIY essential oil gifts for new moms are some of my favorite ways to pamper a fellow mom, or even just take care of myself. They utilize some of my favorite natural resources to promote wellness and emotional wholeness, and also manage to save money!
Why Make DIY Essential Oil Gifts for New Moms?
Believe it or not, my essential oil journey began when I wanted to make DIY gifts for family and friends for the holidays. I didn’t have a lot of money, but I still wanted to give something beautiful and thoughtful that was scented naturally–no toxic chemicals or fragrances. I still love to make DIY essential oil gifts for new moms when I can, and here’s why:
1. I Can Give More
If you haven’t noticed, things for new moms and babies tend to cost a lot. I’ve found I can give so much more when I make it myself! It’s also easy to make a batch or two at the same time–then I have lots of gifts on hand and it’s a huge time-saver for me.
2. It’s Better for Her
Many lotions, sprays, creams, and perfumes marketed to women are packed with highly toxic ingredients, including phthalates (found often in fragrance) which are banned in Europe and Japan because of their link to cancer and endocrine disruption. New moms are especially vulnerable, so I love being able to hand my friend a gift that’s beautifully scented but completely natural and even good for her. Many of my favorite oils help to regulate emotions, calm anxiety, boost mood, and relax.
3. She Feels Seen
There’s no denying that handmade gifts are deeply personal. So much of a new mom’s life is suddenly focused on the baby and while that’s a good thing, I love being able to use DIY essential oil gifts for new moms to remind her that she is still beautiful, worthy, and loved, even when she feels like she’s not herself.
My 5 Favorite DIY Essential Oil Gifts for New Moms
DIY Lavender Essential Oil Spray
Lavender has a beautifully, calming effect and is great for helping to balance the mind and body–so important during the postpartum period! It’s also very soothing, perfect for sensitive skin. You can lightly mist this spray in the air or on your pillow, on your little one’s lovies, your bedding, or even on yourself. Use it just before bedtime for maximum effect.
- Small spray bottle (this rainbow spray bottle will make her smile every time she uses it!)
- 2 tablespoons witch hazel
- 10 drops lavender essential oil
- Distilled water
- 4oz
Add witch hazel and lavender oil to the spray bottle. Fill the rest of the bottle with distilled water. Shake well before each use.
DIY Bath Soak Salts for New Moms
You can mix and match nearly endless ingredients to make these DIY essential oil gifts for new moms. One of my favorite things to do is incorporate some of the dried organic flowers from my shop. The flowers available are perfect for new moms (lavender, chamomile, rose buds, and calendula) and pair beautifully with essential oils. The bottles they come in are also perfect for gifting bath salts, so it’s an extra win! The kind of salt you can use for this recipe is optional. Epsom salt is very high in magnesium, perfect for sore, tired, achy muscles, while sea salt and Himalayan salt are high in a diverse range of minerals that are also good for our bodies and also add visual variety. The combination of essential oils you use is also up to you–I’ve included several of my favorite blends for making DIY essential oil gifts for new moms.
Essential Oil Bath Salts for New Moms
- 1 cup of salt (you can use epsom salts only or some combination of epsom salts, sea salt, and pink Himalayan salt)
- 10-12 drops of your preferred essential oils (see essential oil combinations below)
- ½ cup of baking soda (optional)
- 1 tablespoon carrier oil such as olive oil, jojoba oil, coconut oil, or argan oil (optional)
- Dried flowers (optional)
Mix salts and then add essential oils and any optional ingredients (make sure the coconut oil is liquid before adding it). Combine well, and store in an airtight jar.
Essential Oil Combinations for New Moms
- Comforting: 5 drops lavender + 5 drops eucalyptus (lavender is calming and balancing while eucalyptus is anti-inflammatory and soothes tired muscles)
- Baby Friendly: 10 drops Gentle Baby (Young Living blend with coriander, geranium, palmarosa, lavender, ylang ylang, Roman chamomile, bergamot, lemon, jasmine, and rose)
- Soothing: 6 drops of Stress Away (Young Living blend that contains copaiba, lime, cedarwood, vanilla, ocotea, and lavender) + 4 drops of rose
- Uplifting: 3 drops each of orange, clove, cedarwood, and lemon
New Mother Emotional Support Roller
Taking care of yourself often falls by the wayside when you’re a new mom, but this little roller is how I supported my emotions and covered some of the spit up smell during the intense first weeks after my daughter, Posey, was born. It helped me feel like myself, and it would make an amazing gift for a new mom. You can adjust the essential oils you use based on her preferences and you can even use one of the gemstone rollers from my shop to make the gift extra special and beautiful. You can choose the type of crystal you use for your roller; here are my suggestions:
- Smoky quartz eases stress and negative emotions and promotes grounding
- Amethyst is beautiful and great for overall balance and protection
- Tiger’s eye to help lift her mood and give her courage (it’s great for new beginnings!)
- White howlite helps calm upset motions
New Mother Emotional Support Roller
- 10ml roller bottle
- 10-15 drops Stress Away (Young Living blend of copaiba, lime, cedarwood, vanilla, ocotea, and lavender)
- 5-8 drops neroli
- 3-6 drops rose
- Carrier oil (fractionated coconut oil is my favorite!)
Add the essential oils to your roller bottle, then fill the rest of the bottle with your carrier oil. Roll on multiple times a day to decrease stress and feel good!
Postpartum Soothing Perineal Spray
This is one of those DIY essential oil gifts for new moms that’s as useful as it is easy to make! Even if your perineum didn’t tear during birth, it’s still going to be extremely sore, and the ingredients in this spray soothe, heal, and protect everything “down there.” To help your new mom friend, you can make this spray for her so it’s all ready to go as soon as she gives birth. Lavender is soothing and naturally antiseptic, frankincense is anti-inflammatory and has very powerful healing properties, and clary sage is known for its ability to help balance hormones and increase circulation. Just make sure you use a glass spray bottle, as essential oils should never be stored in plastic.
- Small spray bottle
- 6 tablespoons witch hazel
- 3 tablespoons aloe vera gel (make sure it’s pure)
- 3 tablespoons distilled water
- 5 drops lavender oil
- 5 drops frankincense oil
- 5 drops clary sage oil
Combine ingredients and shake gently before each use. You can store in the fridge for extra soothing power.
DIY Postpartum Belly Butter
This belly butter recipe requires a little more work than the other recipes on this list, but the payoff is huge. It is thicker and more luxurious than a normal lotion, and thanks to powerful oils like frankincense, neroli, and even vitamin E oil, it’s chock full of inflammation-fighting and wound-healing properties, vital for healing and nourishing stretched skin and repairing stretch marks.
Postpartum Belly Butter
- 1 cup combined of shea butter, cocoa butter, and/or mango butter (you can use whatever ratio you prefer, or just stick to shea butter if you’d like)
- ½ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup olive, jojoba, or almond oil
- 1 teaspoon vitamin E oil
- 10 drops of neroli oil
- 10 drops of lavender oil
- 10 drops of frankincense oil
In a double boiler on the stove (you can also use a glass bowl over hot water), combine everything except the essential oils. Gently heat and stir until melted, then remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, and add essential oils. Place in the fridge for up to an hour. It should start to become hard around the edges, but still soft enough for the next step. Next, whip with a hand mixer until fluffy (this can take up to ten minutes) and return to the fridge until it sets.
Which Gift Will You Make?
These DIY essential oil gifts for new moms are some of my favorite gifts to give, and many of them pair beautifully with the ready-to-go rollers and spray bottles I have in my shop. Gifts like these are both practical and sweet ways to let your new mom friend know she’s loved, valued, and appreciated, even when she feels like she’s lost herself in those first few days of motherhood! I’d love to hear which DIY gift you’ll be making–and if you’ll be making it for a friend or yourself ;). Enjoy!
